Editorial Opinion
It's the old squeeze play, and if it's not in
tercepted, future generations of students are
going to be squeezed out.
On Monday, the State College Borough
Council will hold a hearing on a proposed
amendment to the borough's zoning ordinance.
Afterwards, council will vote on whether to
pass the amendment.
That amendment would reduce the number of
unrelated persons who may live together in
strictly residential areas from five to three.
In State College, any ordinance that deals
with unrelated persons who live together can be
considered to be aimed directly at students.
And according to one Planning Commission
member it was noisy, rowdy students who
caused some State College homeowners to
request that council considers the amendment.
While the amendment would not affect
apartments that already are rented to more
than three persons, it will gradually restrict all
apartments to that number. Any converted
house that is sold, or any conversion units that
Extrapolation
One of the basic precepts of a free press is that whenever
uninformed people use it to extrapolate on something they're
unfamiliar with, the perpetrator will crack through the thin ice
of his own faulty logic and false statements.
Case in point here is an article by Brian Golden in the Dec. 15
issue of The Daily Collegian.
It seems Brian has a deep fear of a coming era in the
Mideast, "one that means trouble for the U.S. and the western
alliance as a whole. . . . There is every reason to believe that
New Times killed by new times
During the break, while you were
down at Bourbon Street getting soused
on overpriced drinks and being
propositioned by 12-year-old hookers, I
was back in my hometown, hanging out
at the local drugstore.
I know one might expect a casually hip
columnist such as I to-indulge in more
exciting pastimes, but I was broke
and besides, I've discovered that one can
occasionally stumble on interesting
insights amid the shelves of Vick's Vap
0-Rub and Doan's liver pills.
For instance, on the occasion in
question I learned that H. L. Mencken
was drastically underestimating the
situation when he commented that
nobody ever went broke un
derestimating the intelligence of the
American public. Actually, the surest
way to wealth is to assume that
Americans have no taste whatsoever.
Conversely, the best way to, go bankrupt
is to work from the assumption that for
the most part they do.
This revelation came to me as I was
loitering by the magazine rack, and a
shortish bulldog of a middleaged matron
(decked out in pink curlers and dayglow
toreador slacks) bustled over to buy
some reading material. After
momentarily purusing the selection, a
look of berserk terror suddenly appear
ed on her face,
She grabbed up the sole remaining
tattered copy of People magazine and
waved it at a nearby clerk, all the while
saying, "I bought this one LAST WEEK!
Where's the latest one?"
The clerk, who was apparently used to
such situations, remained calm.
Keeping his distance, he cooly snatched
the issue from her extended hand,
examined it, and then pointed out to her
this was a double issue and she'd have to
wait another whole week for her next fix
CHEESE IT
THE FEDS
Squeezed out
of the latest dope on Burt Reynolds,
Brooke Shields and other fave raves.
Although this particular People fan is
undeniably a bit on the extreme side, her
taste in journalism is more the norm
than the exception. People magazine, a
runaway hit at the newstands and
drugstore magazine racks of America, is
one of the seventies' few real financial
success stories.
i&4.4.,
People is THE magazine for those who
. want the latest dirt about celebrities, but
who are embarassed to be seen buying
Photoplay or Hollywood Confidential.
No matter that nobody would confuse
People's prose with anything by Tom
Wolfe or Saul Bellow. It has lots of
pictures, and besides, its writers dig
deep to give America what it really
wants to know, such as this startling
scoop about Debby Boone:
. . If its the thought that counts,
Debby ( You Light Up My Life) Boone is
in trouble. Introduced to a group of
Kentucky high schoolers recently as a
Bible-believing Christian who neither
smokes, drinks, nor swears, she was
quizzed about the last. 'Well,' con
fessed Debby, 'at least I never swear
out loud.' "
Getting back to our matron in the
drugstore, what was really sad about her
plight was that if she really needed
something to read so desperately, all she
needed to do was go back to the
%,
f
' %ii%
are constructed in an already existing dwelling
will face the restriction, as will any dwelling
,that has ceased to rent to more than three
persons for more than a year.
Thus, if the housing shortage in town doesn't
ease up in the next few years, and if this
amendment is passed, the housing situation will
gradually get worse.
The amendment by any other name means
discrimination against students, and this is why
representatives from several student groups,
including the Organization for Town In
dependent Students, will appear at the hearing
to object to the amendment:
State College already has noise and ap
pearance ordinances, and if they were enforced
there would be no need for this amendment.
The solution to the conflict should not be to tie
another piece of legislation around the
borough's throat. Indeed, restricting the
number of unrelated persons who may live
together is_a way around the problem not an
answer to it.
Letters to the Editor
. . . the world will be worse off when the dictatorial Shah of
Iran is gone."
One of Brian's "every" reasons is a report in a journal that
"much of Iran's internal dissent is orchestrated by the Soviet
Union." The author further distorts the situation by saying
"The Shah has been a stabilizing force in the Persian Gulf with
his fierce anti-Communism." Looks like Joe McCarthy's not as
dead as we'd all hoped.
It is my sincerest hope that such a misguided diatribe was
not taken too seriously by too many people. It would appear to
the objective observer that Brian has confused the interests of
multi-national corporate conglomerates with those of the{
magazine rack, where a thick stack of
New Times' farewell issue was forlornly
sitting, apparently untouched by
customers.
Remember New Times? It was the
first to blow the whistle on former
Agriculture secretary Earl Butz's racial
slurs, and broke scoops on Paraquat and
the Black Panther Party's alleged in-,
volyement in drug dealing and extortion.
Founded ' during ' the wake of
Watergate, New Times was put out by a
group of people who shared a mistaken
faith in the American public's "right to
know" and curiousity about issues such
as the environment and corruption in
government.
In it's brief existence, the magazine
pulled off some impressive feats of in
vestigative reporting and won its share
of awards.
Unfortunately, however, accolades
from fellow journalists are no match for
glossies of Farrah Fawcett-Majors and
Nick Nolte, and the magazine dug itself
into an unescapable financial hole. As
editor Johnathan Larsen commented in
his final column, "as we moved further
into the sugar-coated seventies, it
became increasingly obvious we were
going against a very strong tide."
So New Times quietly folded. But
that's no reason for Americans to be
dismayed, because People's brand of
pseudo-journalism which has even
spawned an imitator, Us magazine
will most likely continue to thrive. After
all, it's better suited to the drugstore
environ Cheryl Tieg'p cleavage and
Burt Reynold's moustache seem to
belong on the shelf right next to heart
burn remedies and minty-fresh feminine
hygiene sprays.
Patrick Kiger is an 11th-term jour
nalism major and is a copy editor for
The Daily Collegian.
Frosh Rep. gets rude reception
Gregg Cunningham, Centre County's newly elected
Republican representative to the state House, had his
first encounter with real world politics Tuesday after
taking his seat in the legislature
In short, he tried to buck the House GOP leadership
and got bucked back a little bit harder.
Amidst the chaos of reorganization, the members
were debating whether or not to seat the apparent
winners in two contested races Kenneth Halverson,
R-Somerset, and Ronald Gatski, D-Luzerne. '
The Republicans control the house with 101 to 98 votes
at present, with the seats of Halverson and Gatski still
in dispute in the courts. If the disputed seats go to the
Democrats, the split control of the House will be even
more unstable.
So while the majority is on their side, the Republicans
wanted to get their choice for House Speaker, Rep. Jack
Seltzer, R-Lebanon, voted in and kick out Democratic
Speaker K. Leroy Irvis.
In caucus, the Republicans apparently decided to
vote as a block for tabling the matter of the two con
tested seats and get to the matter of voting on Seltzer.
Only when they voted on the floor, the vote to table
was 100 to 99 instead of 101 to 98.
Who was the stray cat? Freshman Rep. Gregg
Cunningham
Needless to say, the leadership jumped down his
throat and quickly persuaded him to switch his vote to
the party line.
"I was converged on," Cunningham said to the
Centre Daily Times in an interview. .
He told the CDT he had urged the Republicans in
caucus to vote to seat the two apparent winners.
common mass of American people. The truth of the matter is
this: There are not American interests in Iran, only capitalist
ones.
The Shah of Iran is one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants on
this planet. Hardly a single day goes by when we do not hear of
his American-equipped armies slaughtering people in the
streets, or of the well documented use of torture by his
American-trained secret police.
So what's the reason behind Jimmy "human rights" Car
ter's shamelessly hypocritical support of the Shah? As long as
he remains in power, the Shah can keep Iran and its people as
an enormously profitable investment bed for the multinational
corporations.
Russian assistance to the Iranian people in the struggle
against their oppressors cannot be faulted. In fact, it should be
applauded. Can we condemn the Soviets because their
memories of life under a hated and despised monarchial
tyranny have not yet faded, as have those of the American
rulers?
At this point of the struggle, it is not longer a question of
Collegian forum
But first, a line must be drawn
By DUANE HOLLY
6th-accounting
In view of Mr. Randolph Easton's
statement, on Dec. 13, concerning
Penn State's financial involvement in
South Africa, I would like to present a
more realistic picture of the
divestiture movement on this cam
pus.
The only opinion that Mr. Easton
and I hold in common is that money
and morality do not mix. The
problem is that he has accepted it and
we, those in favor of divestiture,
haven't. The fact that a situation like
South Africa is allowed to exist is
proof enough that a plea for human
rights'is futile. The only alternative is
to realize that some people value
money much more than they do
people's lives and freedom, and to
fight them on a monetary level. Thus,
crippling South Africa's economy will
bring about change much more
quickly than will protesting about the
questionable deaths of jailed
prisoners like Steven Biko,
Mr. Easton's misconstrued. idea,
that our "primary concern" should
be in the University's financial
dealings, is both narrow-minded and
misinformed. If the logic behind Mr.
Easton's remark is that Penn State's
What was his explanation for voting the way he did,
then switching his vote? He says there was some
confusion on his part concerning the Democratic stand
on the issue, denying he had been pressured by the
leadership to change his vote.
But the other story, one source said, was that some of
Cunningham's fellow Republicans were so mad that
thay began yelling at him at the top of their lungs. The
leadership was not at all pleased with him, either.
According to a second CDT interview, Cunningham's
philosophy on the leadership goes: "Voting with the
leadership is not inherently bad unless the leadership is
just trying to move you in a way that it operates to the
detriment of the people of your district."
And his philosophy on strong-arming by the
leadership? "At' that point you have to tell your
leadership no!"
This is an admirable attitude, and it is good to see
Cunningham hold these convictions and try to stand on
his own two feet. This is also the attitude usually
THREE'S
financial interest would be in danger,
I would suggest that Mr. Easton
and those like him re-examine their
own values of a person's life and his
freedom. If one takes the time to look
into the future after the transition of
power in South Africa, it will be
apparent that the University's
monetary interest will be in danger.
The reason for this assumption is that
the black majority, after, taking its
rightful place in the government, will
not forget who helps finance its
oppression. There is no doubt in my
mind that this is the primary reason ,
why the Unites States has such an
intensified concern about main
taining the "stability" in South
Africa.
Mr. Easton's idea that our
divestiture movement might have
harmful repercussions is not only
illogical, but also quite funny. The
mere defense of stability and
progress that Mr. Easton speaks of is
in itself approval of the apartheid
policies in South Africa. The ironic
part is that there is no stability in this
African nation ,when the white
minority lives in constant fear of a
revolution. There is also something
wrong when mothers 'and older
children are shown taking shooting
Pet.
6 etmw......
"Will the Shah remain?" but rather, "Will he be brought to
justice for his crimes against humanity?" In any case, he will
go, and another crack will appear in the base of the net-S a o-;,
worldwide-anymore corporate capitalist hegemony.
Kerry Hixenbioll;
class of
,1978
Jan. 4
=Collegian
Dave Skidmore Judy Stimson
Editor Business Manager
The Daily Collegian encourages comments on news coverage, editorial ,
policy and campus or off-campus affairs. Letters should be
typewritten, double spaced, signed by no more than two persokii and
not longer than 30 lines. Students' letters should include the name, tc., - m
and major of the writer.
practice. The stability that Mr.
Easton mentions is also maintained
by riots, shootings, and other
"peaceful" activities that occur
daily. On the contrary, a more stable 1 .1
existence for everybody would be
achieved by the transition of the
government to the black majority
rule and the immediate termination
of all apartheid policies.
We who are in favor of divestiture
will not sit around and wait until the t,
South African government finally
"wakes up" to the fact that its
apartheid policies are futile. I can
only compare • Mr. Easton's
suggestion of patience to that of
telling a Jewish person in the '4os that
Hitler will eventually realize that he ,„
is wrong in what he is doing in the
concentration camps. Both
statements are examples of
dangerous mentalities, that must beZ!;
awakened to the fact that for no
reason should a person's rights be
compromised, especially not for, A ,
monetary reasons. Mr. Easton asked„
"Where should one draw the line?"
The only reply that I can offer islhat
the question isn't that of location of
the line but the realization that for the
betterment of the world a line must
be drawn. • •-
professed by candidates for public office and newl.
elected office holders. "
But there is a big difference between the rhetorict(l
world of campaigning and the cold realities of
legislative office.
The difference is disillusioning. This is especially tree
in the case of freshmen legislators who, upon taking
office, are quickly acquainted with the. facts of
legislative life and quickly learn that government doffs
not operate in the fair and just democratic way
described by high school textbooks.
In this case, the reality is that freshmen legislate
must rely, on the leadership for just about everythiikk
they need for office space, supplies, information oh
bills, advice, committee positions, and the rest. Motl2
importantly, the party leadership holds the key to kip
legislators' plans because the leadership controls the
agenda for bill introduction and consideration. If tlie
leadership doesn't like you, kid, then you won't even wit
your mother introduced, let alone any bills.ll'
Politics is the art of compromise. Occasionally, all tif .
us must compromise our beliefs and convictions qi
situations that may not be agreeable to us.
.;
1;
Cunningham should by all means do what he believes
is right, but he should not be so quick to buck the
system. The system may be rotten, and he should do all
he can to change it. But in the meantime, to be an oh'
fective legislator for Penn State and the rest of h;i's
constituency, he has to learn how to work in tl - 4it
system.
Pete Barnes is an Bth-term political science maji i 4
and assistant news editor of The Daily Collegian. ,1
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